Principal Education Consultant

Principal Education Consultant

City/Country Location Details: London, UK; Apsley, UK

Employment Status: Corporate

About DAI

DAI is a global development company with corporate offices in the USA, the UK, the EU, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Palestine, and project operations worldwide. DAI tackles fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability: it works on the frontlines of global development, transforming ideas into action-action into impact. DAI is committed to shaping a more liveable world.

The Opportunity

The Human Development team at DAI comprises both the Health and Education practices and consists of 10 staff. Within Education, we are looking for an enterprising and passionate, mid-career Education specialist to join our team and develop our Education brand.

We are a mission-driven team, dedicated to supporting marginalized children and keeping them in schools. You will immerse yourself in technical problem-solving and will be charged with duties across technical, business development, and program delivery.

There is the potential here to become a thought leader in Education and to develop your expertise through events, conferences, and discussions around the world. You will be up to date in the latest trends and systems relating to the education of marginalized children. You will also grow your own networks and personal brand in this space.

You will be instrumental in the development, growth, and expertise offered by our Education practice and you will support us to win and deliver some of the most interesting and innovative programs in the market.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Lead/contribute to a select portfolio of education bids through pre-positioning efforts, strategic bid design, technical writing, and commercial inputs.
• Support effective project delivery and implementation and ensure excellence and impact in education portfolio delivery.
• Support DAI’s branding and network development activities through engaging clients, partners, and representation at internal and external events.
• Undertake market research related to thematic content, geographies, and emerging programs.
• Oversee the proposal process and ensure that internal stakeholders are delivering to plan.
• Contribute to internal knowledge management, organizational capacity building, and mentoring.
• Provide oversight and quality assurance of program delivery, including supporting teams with financial and risk management, compliance, and work planning to ensure program requirements are met.

Competencies Required:

Technical Expertise:

• Education expertise in key areas such as girls’ education, education financing, education governance, education policy analysis, improving learning outcomes, teachers’ professional development, inclusive education, preventing violence in schools, and/or resilience of education systems in the context of disasters and climate change.
• Education Systems particularly in developing country contexts and including understanding of smart investments for improving learning outcomes that maximize VfM.
• Global Education Systems and experience of priorities and operating procedures of key global development partners including FCDO, World Bank, EU, and Global Partnership in Education.
• Designing and managing education programs especially FCDO and World Bank supported programs in complex operational environments.
• Experience with political economy analysis (with a focus on social sectors).
• Experience in multisectoral approaches and in social development programs.

Business Development:

• Experience in designing and writing large scale education programs, especially for FCDO including writing technical and commercial sections, undertaking scoping missions, and creating fit for purpose consortia and teams.
• Building a network of education sector partners and advisors to support business development efforts.
• Supporting education pipeline development, opportunity identification, and identifying market trends.

Programme Management:

• Experience in providing project oversight and quality assurance to program delivery, including supporting teams with client and team management; programmatic, financial, and risk management, compliance; and work planning and results management to ensure program requirements are met.
• Familiarity with FCDO program design and delivery tools such as political economy analysis, VfM analysis, MEL frameworks, quarterly and annual reviews, budget forecasting, and budgeting.

General:

• Relevant post-graduate education and qualification (e.g. Masters’ in International Education), or equivalent sector experience with self-directed study.
• Previous experience working in a multicultural donor organization.
• Communicating, influencing, and working across multi-cultural teams.
• Ability to make effective decisions and problem solve.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience working with international donors, and the UK government specifically.
• Ability to travel regularly.

The salary offered will be commensurate with relevant experience. DAI offers a generous benefits package and there are several day-to-day perks of working at DAI that help keep us happy and motivated! Please make sure to state your salary expectations clearly on application.

There is no closing date for applications and interviews will be held progressively. We are recruiting for these vacancies on a rolling basis, meaning there is no fixed deadline and applications will be assessed as they are received, and the vacancies will remain open until they are filled.

Candidates must be eligible to live and work in the location the role is based within the UK without the need for sponsorship.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, age, religion, sex, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.

This job description details the key elements of the role and is not an exhaustive list of duties. Job roles evolve over time and job-holders may be required to complete additional tasks in line with business needs.

You will be pleased to know that we strive to uphold the highest ethical standards and that we are working with our clients to reduce the opportunity for people who are known to have breached ethical standards to work in our field. Any staff and/or consultant contract with DAI, therefore, will be subject to satisfactory reference checking and vetting.

If you require any adjustments to the interview or recruitment process, please contact (Please do not send applications directly to this inbox).

If this role sounds interesting and you would like to be part of DAI’s growing business, bidding for and managing donor-funded projects around the world, we look forward to hearing from you.

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